This invention relates generally to the art of photography and more particularly to a process and apparatus for producing collage photographs.
The production of collage photographs has become increasingly more desireable and popular in order to feature a photograph in which the image of a subject is combined with a previously recorded image. Such collage photographs have proven quite useful, for example, in the sales promotion and fund raising industry, the tourism industry, and various other areas as well. Developments in the production of collage photographs have involved the use of instant-type cameras that can quickly produce photographs.
Various technologies utilize an overlay transparency of some sort to produce a collage photograph. An overlay transparency usually comprises an object to be rendered to the final print and its background. The goal in overlay technology is to create the illusion that all of the elements in the final collage photograph were actually present at the time of exposure.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,268,144, in particular, discloses an instant-type camera attachment for superimposing graphics such as labels on a photograph by using a transparent template bearing opaque letters and positioning the template over a sheet of photographic film within an instant-type camera such that images of the letters are recorded along with objects within the field of view of the camera when a photograph is made.
An extension of this photograph labeling device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,717,930 which uses an overlay transparency placed between the taking lens of a camera and the film plane. Light from a flash unit is diffused into a tubular area surrounding the field of view of the camera so that a light modulated background can be added to a photographed scene. The device according to this invention, however, also cannot be used to produce a collage photograph isolating various images on selected portions of the photograph.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,707,106 discloses an auxiliary device for an instant-type camera for use in holding prerecorded images in various positions so that selected areas of a film strip may be exposed in sequence to form a collage.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,896,176 to Barrett also utilizes an overlay transparency placed between the taking lens of a camera and the film plane. Barrett discloses a camera for making collage photographs comprising a lens having a field of view and means for positioning film for exposure substantially along a focal plane of the lens. A screen is positioned to block a portion of the field of view, and a flash is provided for illuminating the screen during film exposure whereby light from the field of view may be directed by the lens by one portion of film positioned along the focal plane and light from the screen directed to a second portion of the film. A film or overlay bearing prerecorded images is mounted over the second portion of the film which enables a collage photograph to be produced with the prerecorded images being separately and distinctly reproduced on the film adjacent the image of objects in the unblocked portion in the field of view. In an alternative embodiment, the camera has a lens and means for positioning film for exposure to light from a field of view of the lens upon a focal plane. A screen is positioned to block a portion of the field of view and a means for illuminating the screen is included so that light from the field of view may be focused by the lens on a first portion of the film and light from the screen focused by the lens on a second portion of the film. An attempt is made to vary the amount of light directed to the overlay transparency image by changing the size of a light port, which is a hole in the light box directly below the camera flash. In this instance, variable illumination from the screen is used to illuminate the previously recorded image recorded onto the overlay transparency. The background behind the previously recorded image is considered a necessary evil and every effort is made to lessen its effect on the final collage photograph. Additional density is thus avoided in the overlay transparency.
The technologies that use an overlay transparency placed between the lens of a camera and the film plane, specifically U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,717,930 and 4,896,176, in an attempt to lessen the impact of the background, specify a background having no density or as little density as possible. Also, the illumination of the overlay is provided by an apparatus that either generates light or redirects and controls light from the primary source of light utilized by the camera for the illumination of its normal field of view. As a result, it has been necessary in the past to provide additional secondary lighting to the image recorded on the overlay transparency to produce a quality collage photograph. Such additional lighting has proven to be quite costly and burdensome. Overlay technologies of the past are also limited in use in that a flash unit is always required preventing the use of the camera in a location having high ambient light such as the out of doors. The necessarily precise position, including distance from the camera and side to side orientation, of the screen or image recorded on the overlay transparency further limits the implementation of prior art overlay technologies.
In light of the prior art devices directed towards producing a collage photograph, significant room for improvement exists in the production of a collage photograph in which a previously recorded image is combined with a subject image in a unitary and realistic manner.